What is it missing?

[two4god07]

I uploaded the about page of a site I am working on currently for another church. I love the layout of the page except that it is way too simple.

It's missing something to make it more attractive.

the links don't work because I just uploaded this part to show you guys. the page won't actually be published until i have it ready to show the pastor.

I want to add some simple things to make it stand out and look a bit more professional.

maybe a white to black gradient to the content of the page?

any input would be much appreciated.

[skywalker2208]

link?

[two4god07]

haha oops. i was chasing my kids while i was typing the post. sorry!

http://www.geocities.com/candy_cane_7_11/about.html

[Webnerd]

You need containment. Everything is "freeflow". Defined regions. Here is the company I work for:

http://www.hzdg.com/

Check out some of our sites under "Work" for ideas.

[two4god07]

yeah.. check out your sites... riiigggghhtt.. Your sites are amazing and very dynamic. I honestly don't see myself ever reaching that kind of design capability. I can't afford schooling and I'm not so good at learning unless something is shown to me step by step with examples and then being walked through it before I can understand something.

You know I've read at least 8 tutorials on javascript and how to write your own and i still have no clue how to do anything except mouseovers and alerts.

but anyway, by containment, I assume you mean how I just let the text go down the page, and I need to contrict it to a smaller area?

[two4god07]

speaking of containment, if I knew how, i could put it all in a center black area with a dark gray surrounding it... I just wouldn't know how. Kind of like your main page is embedded in that darker tan area.

[Webnerd]

It just takes patience. Learning anything takes time and web design is one of those things that takes a lot of knowledge (I have 16 years).

A simple <div> tag with a fixed width positioned in the center of a browser with a cool background image would help. Ignore the Javascript and focus on CSS, that is where your creativity can work. Javascript enhances and does not determine your layout.

Here is some eye-candy:

http://scarletcaps.hzdesign.com/

[two4god07]

If you subtract the good graphic art and the multimedia, I could probably put that page together using position tags. It would have a lot less dimension because I'm not so good with gradients, but I could place the elements on the page.


I told my wife she needed to learn photoshop and illustrator so I could just focus on the coding part.

Let me fool around with the page for a while (I'm actually supposed to have a working layout by this Sunday.. pooey) and I'll see what I can do with containment.

I have my other page contained in tighter margins, but I don't want to make two of the same layouts beings this is only my second real webpage and it wouldn't look too good for my portfolio. Potential hires would think I was only capable of doing one thing.

there's just something about churches though... can't charge em. If I even think about it I get a guilty feeling in the pit of my gut.

[Webnerd]

Try and find a good background image and anchor the page centered with a <div> that has a border. You may also want to reduce the size of the logo image as it is rather large.

[two4god07]

ouch.. those are words I didn't want to hear. They mke sense, but I didn't want to hear them. I'll have to remake the image because sizing it down will pixelate it, and it wasn't the easiest to make.

Off to work

[TheTeenScripter]

If you use photoshop to size it down (merging all layers first), it should be fine, no?

[two4god07]

resizing it in photoshop worked fine. I brought it down from 1003px to 600px

Now I'll get to adjusting the layout again, and as soon as I incorporate some of the advice you guys are giving, I'll reload it onto geocities. Thanks.

[two4god07]

ouch... I was going to change the black background into an image instead of just a color so that I could change the look of the edges, but I got to thinking that an image 1500x700 is just a little too big and would take away from how quickly the page loads.

[Webnerd]

I made a small design with some inspirational ideas (attached).

[two4god07]

I like that. Did you just use image masking in photoshop?

If so then I think I might be able to put something together.

The image you made looked cool, but I'm trying to lean towards big flare. A fire of God burning deep down inside that it must be let out. So.. not so subtle.

By the way, I used an ugly image to see about shrinking my layout, and yeah, it doesn't work. Containment isn't such a good thing for this layout. Not the containment I was thinking though. Maybe using something like what you just made, then adding a gradient to the content to set it apart. Thoughts?

[TheTeenScripter]

My though on this is that the design made by webnerd is perfect. Nothing more, nothing less. Perfect. It is clean, simple, very attractive and it really looks like it could be read by just about any browser if coded right. The navigation looks easy to use, and straight-forward. I give it an A+. Very nice job with the background.

[two4god07]

my thought is... apparently I'm not that good at photoshop because I can't reproduce it. :P

[Webnerd]

You need to work with layer transparencies and blending to achieve the effects.

I just grabbed some images off Google:

http://www.desktoprating.com/wallpapers/3d-wallpapers-pictures/huge-3d-fire-wallpaper-1024x768.jpg

http://oneyearbibleimages.com/bible_light.jpg

And added some effects.

[two4god07]

Here is the layout I went with. I think it adds a little depth.

The only issue now is it looks like a page for an action movie

[andr105]

So terrible site! I can't see any page. Site contains not well readable font.

[two4god07]

its not readable because it is a screen shot...

[tivrfoa]

http://www.hzdg.com/

This site is amazing. I need to learn flash :(

[Charles]

All the flames do make it look kind of Satanic. But I'm an Episcopalian so any Church that's so "in your face" about what they believe will seem a little Satanic to me. We're all about what we do, not what we believe, and we don't require anything outside of the Creeds.

I would get rid of all the flames and get rid of those spaces on either side of that central content box. And get rid of those lines dividing the boxes. Have that background fade effect work across the whole page.

[Webnerd]

Ignore the comment by andr105, obviously not a christian. You are on the right track, I think it works. With a little more skills, you can learn how to make that border a little more unobtrusive but it looks good.

[austinm08]

I'm a Christian, and I'm with Charles on this one--anything with flames like that seems too "hot" and "satanic" to me... too in your face.

The one Webnerd provided looked a little more held back, and nice.

[Charles]

The light of Christ illuminating Holy Writ, that is a nice image and no doubt illustrates well that congregation but in a nicer light.

But those flames, the ones that seem to me to be the flames of Hell might not be inappropriate. From what's on the rest of the page it is clear that I wouldn't be comfortable attending that church nor they mine. If your page design can give me the clues that I need to know that before I read the text then the design is a success. Think photography not advertising.

[two4god07]

I didn't even know you guys replied this many times. It usually e-mails me when there are replies.

I'm working on a new layout with more pastels. I could think photography if I could get a chance to take pictures. It's a small church of about 20 or less in attendance at a time (it's not even a year old) It will be hard to get good pictures, but we're trying.

When I finish the pastel site, I'll let you guys see. It's a rather simplistic site.